Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia, the events are fictional. Don't use me as a historical reference.

Here's the chapter, sorry for the really late update.

-Costa Rica-

Matthew shifted the weight of Kumajiro in his arms and sat down across from Ivan at an ice cream parlor. "T-Thanks for treating us to ice cream. It's a bit hot here, eh?" Matthew took a bite out of his vanilla ice cream.

Ivan nodded, it was so hot in Central America that he had decided to leave his scarf in his room. Kumajiro was dizzy with heat, and he drunkenly spoke in a garbled mixture of English and French. Matthew placed Kumajiro in his own separate and spoon fed him some ice cream.

It'd been a week since the incident in Toronto, and Arthur had decided that they all needed a break after that world meeting. Why they decided to come to a tropical country was a mystery to Matthew. Ivan happily chomped on his chocolate ice cream and contently sighed.

"I hate hot places." Ivan confessed. Matthew agreeably nodded. Sure he liked warm places, but this was just too much. The two leaned back in their chairs and rested in companionable silence.


-Tsarskoye Selo- 1908-

"Ivan! Let's play!" Alexi burst into Ivan's room with Anastasia. Ivan, who had been drawing, barely spared them a glance and continued to concentrate on his sketch. He had promised Maria that he would draw something from his past, and he'd put it off until now. The Lord only knew how she got when he broke his promises. Anastasia decided that she was more important though and grabbed Ivan's free arm and cutely pouted.

Ivan spared the two a glance and knitted his browse together to exaggerate his concentration. He internally sighed when the two didn't seem to take the hint and continued to nag him.

"You impatient children." He lightly told them off and tapped them on the head with his pencil. "Stay still for ten minutes. I will be done by then."

"Yes, you children should stop bothering Ivan." A voice from the door scolded the mischievous duo. Ivan recognized the voice and turned to greet Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, Nikolai's sister, and the children's aunt.

"Grand duchess Olga Alexandrovna." Ivan formally greeted. He stood up and respectfully bowed his head. The woman scoffed and rolled her eyes, "Ivan. I'll smack you if you call me that in private again."

Anastasia and Alexei giggled and greeted their aunt with a hug. "Little one, baby, how are you doing?" Olga carefully returned their hug, always mindful of Alexei.

Ivan chuckled in response and relaxed back into his chair, at least one thing hadn't changed. Both she and Nikolai frequently played with him as children, the only difference now being that she still valued his advice while Nikolai wanted none of it. Well, that didn't matter anymore. Ivan pushed any lingering feelings of bitterness to the back of his mind. He was just pleased to see that Olga was still well.

"What are you drawing?" Olga asked while peering over his shoulder. Ivan showed her his sketch. Olga took great interest in the night sky and the beautiful scenery. The moon cast an eerie, yet beautiful glow onto the grassy field and swaying trees.

"This is beautiful! You should be an artist- I would gladly commission you." Olga set the sketch back down, "Where is this?" Olga asked.

A strange emotion jolted across Ivan's chest, and he looked back at his drawing with a nostalgic smile. So much time had passed since back then. Perhaps too much time.

"It's St. Petersburg before it was St. Petersburg." Ivan answered. A look of surprise flashed across the aunt's face, and she looked at the drawing again with a new respect. Perhaps she was reminded of Ivan's age.

"I see. It was beautiful back then, although I can't say that I prefer that to this." Olga vaguely gestured to the entire palace and the direction of the city. Ivan nodded, of course she would prefer this life of luxury and relative comfort over constantly worrying about getting eaten by a bear and being at the mercy of nature.

However, there was something she would never be able to experience. The freedom that came without royal politics and the beauty of St Petersburg before poverty existed- she would never be able to know how blissfully peaceful it had been. Perhaps no one else would ever know.

Olga put a hand on Ivan's shoulder and leaned down to whisper in his ear, "I know your relationship with Nikolai is a bit strained- but he is just nervous. Give him time, ever since he was forced to give the people a Duma- he's been a bit depressed." Olga whispered.

Ivan sighed and affectionately pat her head. "I understand, you worry too much. Alexei, Derevenko must be tearing up the palace looking for you." Ivan began to dismiss the children. Alexei pouted and crossed his arms, "But I want to play with you." He insisted. He shot his best kicked puppy look, but Ivan remained firm.

No one could say no to the little Tsarevich, so he needed to uphold some form of discipline. It was healthy to say no at least once a day.

"You can play with me any other day- with Derevenko's permission. And Anastasia, today is Saturday, yes? You should go to your aunt's house and have fun with kids your age. When you two come back, we can play." Ivan gave the two a kiss on the head.

Anastasia unhappily gave Ivan a kiss on the cheek and shot him a look that threatened to let hell boil over if he didn't play with her later, and left to join her sisters. Alexei took his aunt's hand and waved goodbye, while Olga shot him a sly smile.

Pedophile

Her look seemed to say. Ivan made a shooing motion with the back of his hand and blew Olga a kiss, who rolled her eyes in response and left.

A peaceful silence enveloped the room, and Ivan took a minute to appreciate how calm it was. While he loved the children, they could be a handful at times. Ivan scratched his head with the back of his pencil and touched up a few things in the drawing before he set it aside. Ivan cracked his knuckles and popped a few bones in his spine.

He might as well take a nap until Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia returned from their Aunt's house. Ivan laid down on his bed and blissfully sighed when all of the muscles in his back relaxed, and his lids slowly grew heavier, and heavier, until he was fast asleep.


"Catch me if you can Alexei!" Anastasia shouted as she jogged past the three year old. Alexei grinned and chased after his sister- his nannies not far behind him. Ivan walked next to Nikolai and Alexandra as the children romped around and enjoyed the beautiful weather in the gardens.

"Tatiana is growing to become beautiful." Alexandra said to Ivan. It was true, Ivan thought. Tatiana was perhaps the most noble-looking of the four girls. "Anastasia is looking very nice as well."

Ivan remarked. Alexandra exasperatedly looked up to the sky, "She's too chubby. I hope it's just baby fat." The Empress smiled to show that she was only half joking, and asked Ivan what he thought about all of the children. Ivan shrugged and fondly looked at the energetic group of children.

"Olga is very smart, and although her temper sometimes gets the better of her- she can be very kind. Although I do wish she would be a bit better in her studies… Maria seems to be more interested in drawing than anything." Ivan hid the fact that he was partially responsible for her newfound hobby. \

"Anastasia is also quite… inattentive in her studies, but she picks up the lessons very quickly. Tatiana is the most diligent of all the children, and Alexei- well, he is still a child- but he has a kind heart. Although he does have his moments." Ivan thought back to the time that Alexei kicked a peasant's face when he presented a gift to him.

Well, he could only hope that it was just a part of his immaturity and not his actual personality. Ivan cleared his throat and turned to face his amused sovereigns, "The conclusion that I have, is that all of your children are incredibly lazy when it comes to their studies. However they are all quite intelligent- so I don't think there's anything to fear."

Nikolai chuckled and pulled his wife closer to him. "Well, I wonder who they get that from." He whispered. Alexandra smile and leaned against his arm, "I wonder."

Ivan was thankful that he was always smiling, because it was hard not to laugh at their behavior. It was like watching two lovesick teenagers on their first night out. The nation gave the two some space and took his own route through the gardens. He preferred to walk alone anyway.

While things were relatively peaceful here, Ivan knew it was far from peaceful in Russia. Civil unrest was spreading throughout the country, and some were calling for a revolution. Ivan grazed his gloved fingers across the trimmed hedges of the garden and wryly smiled. He doubted that the monarchy would be overthrown they might be weakened, yes- but as long as Alexei made it to the throne, everything would be okay. Or so he hoped.

Ivan was wrenched from his thoughts when he heard a servant scream the Tsar over.

"Alexei! Summon the palace surgeon at once!" Alexandra ordered the servants. Alexei cried as he was carried back into the palace, and Anastasia looked solemn.

Ivan jogged over to Anastasia and asked what had happened. The little girl looked away and bit her lip.

"We were just running around and Alexei tripped over something and cut his leg. N-Now he won't stop bleeding." The seven-year-old hiccuped. Maria walked over and gave Anastasia a reassuring hug.

"Alexei will be okay." She whispered to her younger sister. Anastasia sniffled and clung onto her sister, it was all her fault.

Ivan left the four sisters to comfort each other and ran after Alexei. Ivan was shocked that there was a trail of blood leading to the boy's room. It looked eerily familiar, and his memories flashed back to the death of Nikolai's grandfather.

Ivan's stomach dropped and he steeled himself- he wouldn't let Alexei die. He opened the doors and flinched at how loud it was. The doctors were shouting at each other as they tried to staunch the cut on the child's leg. Alexei cried and the poor Tsarina looked like she was losing an entire liter of blood for every milliliter that Alexei was losing.

Ivan saw that doctors were about to administer some aspirin, but it wasn't going to happen on his watch. The nation strode over to the doctors, grabbed the bottle of medication, and ate it all himself. The entire room froze with shock, and it became quiet. Ivan coughed and shook his head to rid himself of his sudden dizziness. It was nearly impossible for him to overdose on any drug, but it did hurt a bit.

"You-" Ivan interrupted himself and took a deep breath to calm down. Smile, he reminded himself.

"This medication is bad for the child. Didn't Rasputin also tell you this? If you so much as attempt to administer this to Alexei one more time, I will personally take those pills and shove it down your throats." Ivan's sickly sweet voice sent a shiver down their spines, and they reluctantly complied with his wishes. Ivan watched with great anxiety as the doctors tried to staunch the blood flow.

Alexandra fainted when the doctors were helpless to do anything, and Nikolai turned to Ivan for help. The Russian glanced down at his gloved hands, but thought against it. Anastasia's words from before made him cautious. Besides, they already tried to ice the wound- and that didn't work. Nikolai became distraught, and squeezed Ivan's arm in an almost pleading gesture.

If there's anything you can do, do it.

His gaze seemed to say before he helped the nurses bring his wife to their room. Ivan silently watched as the doctors swarmed over Alexei until the sun went down. They seemed to have forgotten that he was even there since they left the child alone with his attendant. Ivan walked out from the shadows and greeted the surprised attendant, who hurriedly curtsied.

"I will look over him for a while, you may go rest." Ivan dismissed her. The woman hesitated a bit, but complied with his wishes. When he heard the door click shut, Ivan slowly removed his gloves. He didn't know if it would work- he actually expected it to fail. But he couldn't help but hope that he could staunch the flow of blood.

"Ah, our little baby." Ivan cooed to the sickly three year old. Alexei groaned with pain when Ivan's cool hands touched his bloodied leg. Ivan took a deep breath and forced a calm smile onto his face. His hand gently- but firmly, wrapped around the Tsarevich's leg and he applied pressure to the cut.

"Hurts." Alexei whimpered. Ivan briefly released his left hand to move the child's sweaty bangs aside and pat his head. "I know, be strong Alexei. You will get better." Ivan entertained Alexei with amusing stories of his past. From stepping in Reindeer poop, to trying to touch a rainbow- Ivan even made up some of his them to take Alexei's mind off the pain.

Ivan animatedly talked about Alexei's future, and about his future wife.

"She must be kind, but also stern. Who else will put you in your place? She must also be very smart as well."

Alexei laughed and shifted his position in his bed. "Is that what Vanya's wife is like?" He asked in a playful tone.

Ivan paused, "…I'm not married. But I do have a friend like that."

Alexei disappointedly sighed, "Is your friend a woman?" He hopefully asked. Ivan laughed and poked his forehead, "No, he is a man. A childhood friend." Ivan clarified.

"I want to meet him one day."

Ivan laughed and adjusted his grip on Alexei's leg. "You will one day." Ivan promised. After half an hour of talking, Ivan cautiously removed his hands and was relieved to see that the bleeding had stopped.

Alexei yawned, obviously exhausted, and buried his face in his pillow. He sleepily looked at Ivan and made a shushing gesture with his hand.

"Secret." Alexei whispered. Ivan nodded and tucked him into his sheets. "Da, secret."

Ivan waited until he was completely asleep before he left the room. His boots were soundless against the wooden floor, and he seemed to blend into the walls. Ivan was about to go and tell Nikolai the good news, but he didn't want to wake him up. He needed the rest anyway, and it could wait until morning. The nation sighed and returned to his room, they would find out by then anyway.


"Yes, we summoned Rasputin to come in the middle of the night. Now Alexei is in good health." The doctors explained to the ecstatic parents.

"How wonderful. Thank God that Rasputin healed Alexei." Nikolai told Ivan with relief as the doctors bandaged Alexei's already healing leg.

Ivan pursed his lips, but reluctantly went along with it. He didn't exactly want to flaunt his newfound ability; he had to consult Arthur about it first. Maybe he hadn't even used magic, maybe the bleeding had stopped naturally. A tap on his shoulder tore him away from the celebration, and he immediately opened his arms for a hug.

It was Olga, Nikolai's sister. The woman smiled and accepted his hug, "Ivan, could I have a word?" Olga tugged his arm to outside the room. Ivan questioningly tilted his head but complied. Olga pulled him over to the side and spoke to him in a low voice that was meant for only him to hear.

"Why are you letting Rasputin take the credit?" Olga asked bluntly. Ivan sharply inhaled and narrowed his eyes, how did she know. The Grand Duchess dismissed any idea of lying to her, "I saw it. You didn't see me enter the room since you were so focused on Alexei- but I saw what you did. What kind of magic was that?" Ivan felt chills go down his spine at the mention of magic, and merely shook his head.

"It… It's not magic. My hands are cold, and I managed to stop the bleeding by placing pressure on his leg." Ivan unconsciously crossed his arms. His smile was gone, and a deeply troubled expression forced its way onto his face. Magic was a tricky thing, and it was very dangerous. Well, certain types of magic were more dangerous than others.

Ivan frowned and furrowed his eyebrows together. It was true- magic did exist. And humans used to know how to properly wield its power. But the practice largely died out thanks to the church, and the only ones who knew how to wield magic were the nations. However, if he was indeed using magic to heal Alexei, then that had to mean that he was using pure magical power.

While it was common to be able to have some form of self-regeneration, it was practically unheard of for a person, or a nation, to be able to project that kind of magic onto someone else without the aid of a spell. Ivan felt a headache coming on as he thought about it.

Olga was sharp, and his silence seemed to mentally answer one of her unasked questions.

"I see… But Ivan, your hands aren't exactly cold. They're quite warm." She gently interrupted Ivan's thoughts.

The nation paused, what? His eyes narrowed and pursed his lips. "Nyet, they aren't." Ivan took off his gloves and pressed it against his own cheek and then pressed it against Olga's after he confirmed that it was cold. Olga gave him a strange look and placed her hand on top of Ivan's. "It's warm, Ivan."

This was idiotic. He knew his hands were cold-deathly cold in fact. That was why he wore gloves. To prove his point, Ivan pulled over a servant and asked to shake hands with her. The woman seemed a bit confused, but obediently shook Ivan's hand.

"Are they cold or warm?" Ivan demanded.

The servant glanced at Olga, and then at Ivan. "T-They're cold, sir."

Ivan dismissed her and pointedly looked at Olga.

The Grand duchess only laughed though, and she gave him a hug. "That's why," she whispered in his ear, "you're using magic. You're surprisingly childish, Ivan."

Ivan sharply inhaled and forcefully, but gently pushed her away from him. He gave her a good look up and down. He remembered when she was a slobbering baby who thought that the world was flat. And now here she was, sharp as a blade, and as beautiful as the full moon.

Ivan pat her head and forced a smile onto his face, she had grown up well.

"I will see you later." Ivan moved to return to his room, but Olga caught him by his sleeve. "You still haven't answered my question." Olga reminded him.

Ivan paused, but continued on. If it was revealed that magic truly existed, and that he and every other nation knew how to wield it- it would unleash chaos on the new world. Just like before, when entire peoples were eradicated and entire villages were wiped out.

Compared to mere a superstition the royal family might have for a few generations concerning Rasputin, telling them about magic was far worse. He would let Rasputin continue 'curing' Alexei, if only to preserve order.

Of course he couldn't tell Olga that.

"It's unimportant." Ivan said before he disappeared.

Ivan paced along the halls with a dangerous aura that bordered killing intent. That Rasputin, even after he had warned him to stop attempting to cast magic- he still used it. Of course it wasn't harmful to Alexei, however to deceive the royal family was a grave offense.

Rasputin could be nonsensical-incoherent even- when he prayed with his indecipherable Siberian accent. He would slip a few words in here and there that would make Ivan want to murder him, and wonder where he learned such things. But he doubted that Rasputin even knew what kind of magic he was using. In this case, it was much safer for him to be ignorant of his power than to directly confront him again.

The point was, was that Rasputin was intentionally attempting to deceive him and the entire royal family. And it was a major insult to Ivan. The Russian burst into his room and angrily slammed his fist against his wood desk. He couldn't kill Rasputin, there was too much support around him.

Ivan sighed and decided to divert his attention. He took off his gloves and took a seat in his chair. He inspected his pale hands. There wasn't anything special about them. Aside from a few scars, maybe they were a bit larger than average?

As he inspected his hands, he began to wonder when he had begun to wear gloves. Why did he even wear gloves?

Well, it used to be a custom quite a few centuries ago for the nobility to wear gloves. Aside from that, he would wear gloves to shield them from the cold. But… he used to wear them before then. He wore them for a different reason. Ivan tilted his head and tried to dig up centuries-old memories, but was surprised to find that he couldn't remember.

"I'm getting old." Ivan sighed and scratched the bottom of his chin. He stared at his walls that were covered in drawings, and then tilted his head up to look at the ceiling. Perhaps he should visit Arthur, he was the expert in magic.


-A few days later-

Ivan grabbed a backpack and adjusted his cap before he left the palace. It'd been a while since he'd set foot in St Petersburg, and he needed to do a candy run since Alexei had a healthy appetite for Russian sweets.

"There's nothing like that in the palace!" The little boy had insisted.

Ivan adjusted his gloves with a smile and fondly shook his head. All of the children loved the things he brought back from the city, and they seemed to share similar tastes in sweets with him.

"Ivan! Wait!" Anastasia shouted from down the hall. Ivan raised an eyebrow, did she have an antenna that told her whenever he was going to leave? The princess barreled into him, along with Maria and Tatiana who weren't too far behind. Ivan staggered back a few steps and dramatically rolled his eyes. "I'll be back in a few hours. It's not like I'm going off to war." Ivan playfully teased them.

The girls pouted and detached themselves from him. "It's good luck!" Maria insisted and gave Ivan a kiss on the cheek. Anastasia and Tatiana did the same and gave Maria a dirty look before vying for Ivan's attention.

"Please bring back a lot of tasty food." The three sang in practiced harmony. Ivan chuckled and pat their heads, they were too funny.

"Yes, I will. I suppose Olga is looking after Alexei with her mother, I'll be back." Ivan tapped their noses before heading off to the stables to grab his horse. He would ride it to the train station, take the train to St Petersburg, and then he would walk to the markets. Ivan brought out his large black horse and mounted the horse with practiced ease.

The guards saluted him as he trotted out of the estate Ivan breathed in the fresh morning air and smiled to himself, this certainly brought back nostalgic memories.

As Ivan rode down the dirt path, a few set of eyes watched him leave from the shadows. The group of three men nodded to each other, and one of them left to tell their main group that Ivan had left.

"If we are going to do it, we must do it when the king's guard dog is far from sight." The leader whispered to his friend. The smaller man smiled and nodded, they would rid Russia of its foolish rulers.


Ivan finished off his ice cream and stared at the empty cup. He could see a distorted image of himself. While others saw a strong, and terrifying nation, Ivan only saw a confused man who's lived too long. His long sigh caught the attention of Matthew, who gave him a questioningly look. Ivan shook his head and widened his smile, "It's nothing. It's too hot, that's all." Ivan happily waved away his gaze.

Matthew was too empathetic, he was far too kind. Ivan's past wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, and things got far worse from here. He didn't need to burden his friend with such depressing memories. Ivan took a swig of water from his water bottle and kept smiling at Matthew. Some secrets were meant to lie in the grave.


Well I'm embarrassed.

I tried to get this chapter on time, but you all know how that turned out. I'm really sorry guys. I want to be able to right Fanfiction everyday and work on this story, but I have to take care of my school work too. Once I've finished all my exams, I'll try and publish my chapters more frequently. I hope you liked this chapter!

As always, criticism and thoughts about the chapter are always appreciated. Make sure to favorite this story if you liked it and follow it to get regular updates :) Hope you guys liked the chapter!

~Preuss